


Wine and Warlocks and Flirting, Oh My!

by tymedfire



Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: Drunk Merlin, Fluff, Gen, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, also I'm bad at writing fluff, and Merlin is adorable, angst is my forte, fair warning I've never been drunk or around drunk people, pure fluff, slightly drunk Gwen, so this is all my imagination, they're just two friends relaxing, this is my attempt at not writing something sad
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-11
Updated: 2018-02-11
Packaged: 2019-03-17 01:22:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,155
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13648467
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tymedfire/pseuds/tymedfire
Summary: He truly, honestly hadn’t been expecting to find the Queen of Camelot and the King of Camelot’s manservant wine drunk in an empty meeting chamber in the middle of the day.





	Wine and Warlocks and Flirting, Oh My!

“-- and, and  _ nice _ and  _ pretty _ and you just- just,  _ ugh _ ! You’re so good, Gwen. So good.” Gwaine is more than a little surprised and concerned to hear words like that come out of Merlin’s mouth. Especially since he sounds breathless and like he is… 

No. This is not happening. No way, Gwaine wants no part in any of this. Bewildered, he walks toward the closed door he heard Merlin’s voice coming from and opens it, completely ready to reprimand (and really, it’s  _ Gwaine _ who wants to stop this and not join in? That’s saying something) his friends who just so happen to be  _ a servant and the Queen of Camelot _ . Not that Gwaine particularly cares about social classes, but…

Taking a deep breath, Gwaine opens the door and-

Is completely unprepared for the sight before him. Really, he should have expected this, because it’s  _ Gwen _ and  _ Merlin _ and his mind is just so automatically in the gutter, but he truly, honestly hadn’t been expecting to find the Queen of Camelot and the King of Camelot’s manservant wine drunk in an empty meeting chamber in the middle of the day.

Gwaine thinks this is probably the most adorable thing he’s seen in all his years. Merlin snorts (apparently he had said that out loud), unable to stop himself, and Gwaine tries to shush him. But the dark-haired knight takes one look at Merlin -- cheeks red, eyes wide, a glass of wine in his wildly gesticulating hand -- and lets out a laugh that echoes in the empty corridor. 

Gwen is grinning at him from a chair beside Merlin, her own glass of wine in her hand. The lucidity in her eyes suggests to Gwaine that she isn’t nearly as inebriated at Merlin is. 

“Hello, Gwaine. Care to join us?” Gwen gestures to the chair that once must have occupied Merlin, though the servant is now sitting on the floor with both arms still raised high above his head in apparent explanation of something. 

“Gwaine!” Merlin all but shouts. “Gwaine! Gwaine, my favorite knight! Gwen, Gwaine is my favorite knight, but you’re still my favorite person.” Merlin scrambles clumsily up and stumbles toward Gwaine. Gwaine has to reach out to catch Merlin as he trips into him. Merlin twists his free hand in Gwaine’s shirt and grins up at him. Inexplicably, during his tumble, he didn’t spill a single drop of wine. “You have nice hair. Really nice. It’s all long and flowy and brown. And you’re Strength! Strong! You’re my friend. Very pretty.” He untwists his hand from Gwaine’s shirt and pats him twice on the head, as if putting the matter to rest.

Apparently wine-drunk Merlin is a bit of a flirt. Or, at least, very liberal with his affections.

Gwaine laughs and pats Merlin on the shoulder. “Thanks, mate. Let’s sit you down, right here, yeah.” He carefully lowers Merlin into the chair, only to have Merlin jump right back up and gesture to Gwaine wildly, looking at Gwen with wide, delighted eyes.

“See! Noble! And chivalrous!”

Gwen giggles and nods, gazing at Merlin with undisguised affection and amusement. “Okay, sweetheart. Gwaine is a good friend.” 

“He  _ is _ !”

“He’s been like this for the last hour. I think he needed it. This is the most I’ve seen him smile in a long time.” Gwen says in response to Gwaine’s silently raised eyebrow.

Before Gwaine can respond, he hears footsteps coming from the hallway. Merlin downs the rest of his glass of wine in one gulp and hiccups, then dissolves into a fit of giggles. He tips precariously forward and Gwaine has to grab him by the shoulders to keep him from falling over. The footsteps come closer and then Arthur, Leon, Percival, and Elyan are standing in the doorway, peering in curiously. 

They all freeze at the scene before them: Merlin practically laying on Gwaine, his long limbs wrapped around his torso, giggling like a mad-man, and Gwen trying her best to look as regal as possible with her hand over her mouth as if trying to physically shove her laughter back.

“Arthur!” Yeah, Gwaine really needs to get Merlin’s mouth away from his ear. The man is  _ loud _ . “Arthur! The king! All kingly and… gold. Hi.” Merlin’s words are beginning to slur. Suddenly, he slips from Gwaine’s grasp and lands on his side on the floor, but instead of looking hurt, his face lights up. “And Leon! And Perce! And Elyan! My friends! Hi! Oh.” Merlin looks up at Gwaine from where he’s apparently decided to stay sprawled on the floor, suddenly serious. “You know who else has nice hair?”

Gwaine raises an eyebrow and glances at the bewildered faces of his monarch and fellow Knights before answering, “Arthur?”

Merlin shakes his head vigorously. 

“No. Leon. Leon has nice hair. Not like yours. Curly and fluffy and  _ red _ .” On the last word Merlin breaks into a grin, as if ‘red’ is the best thing in the world. Gwaine doesn’t even try to fight back the laugh that bubbles up at the noise of disbelief from Leon. “And fluffy,” he adds as an afterthought.

Gwaine grins as he turns his head to face the group at the door. Percival and Elyan are both grinning and trying not to laugh. Leon looks completely bewildered by the sight before him. Arthur, surprisingly, has a small, soft smile on his lips as he watches Merlin with fond exasperation that he usually wouldn’t be caught dead with.

“Wine?” He guesses. This seems to be too much for Gwen, who lets out a loud laugh. 

Merlin’s back arches as he peers behind himself, trying to find Gwen at the sound of her laugh, and he grins at her upside down. 

Shaking his head, Arthur says, “Someone should probably get my idiot manservant to bed. He looks like he’s about to fall asleep.” True to his observation, Merlin’s eyelids were starting to flutter.

“I got him,” Gwaine says, still completely delighted with the entire situation. He reaches down and hauls Merlin to his feet, holding his weight as the servant leans into him. Gwen also stands, brushing off her skirt. Arthur moves to her side and takes her arm before leading her out of the room. As they pass by Merlin and Gwaine, Gwen stops and smiles sweetly at Merlin. “Have a good night, Merlin. You deserve it.”

Merlin hums sleepily and says, “Love you.” Gwaine sees tears form at the corners of Gwen’s eyes and she lets out a harsh breath.

“And I you, Merlin. Sleep well.”

Merlin grins sleepily at her and waves goodbye. Gwaine takes him back to his and Gaius’s chambers and deposits him into his bed. He’s asleep before his head hits the pillow. 

Gwaine takes a minute to just watch his friend and can’t help but be eternally grateful for Gwen and this night. For the first time in months, Merlin sleeps with a smile.


End file.
